In preparing for this unique season, Randy Shannon emphasizes the need for versatility.
There's still a lot of unknowns how positive tests, if any, could impact a team's roster. But it's important to be ready which is one reason why the UCF defensive coordinator is actively experimenting with moving players to different positions, just in case.
Shannon, who is about to embark on his third season in Orlando, spoke about that topic and many more issues during a Friday conversation with local media.
Here are the key points covered during the 12-minute interview:
-Randy Shannon began the interview with talk about "moving guys around" and "preparing for the future." So a clear nod to preparing for the unknown, whether it's players forced to quarantine or perhaps opt-outs.
-Shannon then added how moving players around is creating an added sense of competition, so players are not settling into the idea of, "I'm the backup."
-He was asked about freshman standouts. In the question, the three freshman DBs were called by name (Davonte Brown, Justin Hodges, Quadric Bullard) so I'm guessing maybe that's why Shannon didn't mention them as well. He instead name-dropped two others: LB Quade Mosier and DL Joshua Celiscar. He said he hopes the freshmen can be ready to meaningfully contribute by the time the season gets a few games underway.
-Shannon was asked about the secondary, how there are experienced safeties but perhaps inexperienced cornerbacks, and he elaborated on how he's moving players around. For instance, Shannon says Richie Grant has been playing safety, nickel and corner. Antwan Collier has been playing boundary and field safety. Same with Jermaine McMillian. He then raved about Dyllon Lester, how well he's been doing. He's been playing both safety spots and nickel.
The young corners though are staying at corner, obviously not trying to put too much on their plate.
You get the sense from his commentary that the starting four has the potential to look very different as it's all about getting the best four on the field (in addition to being prepared for COVID absences) so guys could indeed change positions. I suspect this scrimmage and upcoming weeks will be very interesting in that regard.
-As far as recruiting, Shannon talked about the Zoom aspect of it all but the most important thing is making sure one does their homework on all the non-football issues in regards to academics, character, etc. That can be a little harder to do when you can't go on the road.
-Shannon was asked about UGA DB transfer Divaad Wilson. He says he's a confident guy, but understands his place and the need to learn. It didn't sound like he was ready yet, but said the expectation is that he will get there.
-The defense improved a lot in 2019 on giving up big plays. Biggest emphasis remains on creating negative plays and on third down.
-Shannon was asked about the free year of eligibility and whether some seniors might want to take advantage and he said nobody is really thinking that far ahead.
-Leadership wise, even though he's not been cleared to practice, Shannon has been impressed with Brandon Moore.
-During Saturday's scrimmage, Shannon wants to see guys "chasing the football" and "communication."
-Asked about social justice issues, Shannon says they often talk about things. He'll bring up different events in the meetings and they'll have a conversation.
-Asked about the sophomore linebackers, Tatum Bethune and Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste, Shannon gave a few more examples, like he did with the DBs, about how he's mixing and matching different groups. Jeremiah and Tatum and playing mike and will and he's pairing them up with Eric Mitchell and Eriq Gilyard. Quade Mosier is sticking to mike.
Here's everything he had to say:
This has obviously been a very unique camp. Can you talk about what you've been seeing from your guys in the first few weeks here?
"It's been very great. You have to change things, things that you're doing. It's been great. Guys have adapted to it very well. Guys have been very enthusiastic on both sides of the football. We've had great competition. We've moved guys around. You've got to prepare for the future. The what if. We've done a great job on both sides of the football of different guys playing with different people. It's been fun. Guys have been stepping up and having fun with it. Just building a team. Building the depth on the football team."
How important is roster management? You spoke about moving guys around. How important is it to have guys that can play multiple positions?
"That's the biggest thing. When I was in the NFL, you're traveling with five linebackers. One is a special teams guy. Another has to play all three. Then you have to pick one of the other guys to play the other two. Every team that I've been with it's been that type of situation. I think for us right now, doing those things on both sides of the football, you build a lot of depth. Then you get into playing the best guys instead of I play defensive tackle or I play defensive end or I play linebacker. You start to develop guys to play the next best guy. It brings a lot of continuity to the team. Also, it challenges people to keep playing at a high level and not just sit back and say, 'Well, I'm the backup to this position.' You can move guys around. The more depth that you build, it gives you more leeway to move people around and have a much better football team."
Coach Heupel has mentioned the freshman DBs, Davonte Brown, Justin Hodges and Quadric Bullard, that have impressed. Have there been any younger players or newcomers that have impressed you so far in camp?
"Quade Mosier got here in January. He's been very, very good. Also, Josh Celiscar. A freshman. He's done a tremendous job. His weight is up. He's strong. He's powerful. But he's a freshman making freshman mistakes like all of them are. The one thing they're not doing is continually making the same mistakes. I think that's a big thing. If they can keep progressing and keep helping us, by midseason or third or fourth game, if something happens, those guys will be ready to go. We're excited about all of them because they bring a lot of excitement and challenges, a competitive edge. And they're pushing guys. That's great to have, having young guys pushing."
You've got some older, experienced guys at safety between Richie Grant and Antwan Collier, but you've got some younger players at cornerback. What are you seeing at that spot. Is that a battle to see who emerges?
"The other question got to a good point about moving guys around. I'll give you a scenario. Richie has played safety, nickel and cornerback. The older guys always move. We've played Antwan Collier at boundary and field safety. Jermaine McMillian has played both boundary and field safety. Dyllon Lester, coming off the knee (injury), has been tremendous. Unbelievable. He's back to what we thought he would be. Fast, can run, cut and everything else. He has played both safety positions and also the nickel position. So we're moving guys around because you never know what can happen. But it's also bringing a lot of competition with that also. We leave the young guys steady. They play corner. Don't mess with the young guys. Move the veterans around and those guys should be able to pick things up."
How has this impacted recruiting, not having recruits on campus or being able to go visit. Has it changed who you've targeted?
"The biggest thing you have to do is you can't make, I don't want to call them mistakes, but you have to make sure you have everything in order. A lot of Zoom calls. A lot of parent Zoom interactions. A lot of academic Zoom calls. You've got to make sure it's not all about that athletic ability. Athletic ability we can judge and see, but you have to do all the things outside. Like in the NFL, you have to find out everything about somebody because you're investing a lot of time and money in that person. In recruiting, you're investing a lot of time and a lot of money for scholarships and you've got to make sure that you dot your i's and cross your t's to make sure this guys fits what we want to do. He fits what we're doing as a program. I think a lot of times we get caught up, not us, but coaches get caught up, 'Oh, he's an athlete!' All of a sudden this athlete becomes something else off the field. Now that becomes a problem. That's the biggest thing that's hard. You've got to depend on the counselors, the coaches and try to reach out to different people that you know personally who know that person."
You added a transfer, Divaad Wilson, from the transfer portal. What is your relationship with him and what can he provide to this team?
"Divaad, I recruited him when I was at University of Florida. He can bring a lot of diversity to us. Like anything else, he has to learn what we do. That's the biggest change and more important than anything, learning what we're doing on defense. He's very competitive. Guys on the team know him. He's not a guy that thinks I'm better than anybody. He's a very confident person, but he knows that right now he's not where he needs to be to be in the mix for what we're trying to do. We're expecting anybody to come here, if we recruit you, to be a part of the rotation. We're not bringing guys in to be a backup. We're bringing in guys to compete, take people's jobs and make us better."
The defense last year took a big step in terms of yards given up per game. What can you attribute that to and what do you think you have to do to take another step this year?
"Let me put it to you this way. Anything that we self scout the year before to this year, we did the same thing this year. The biggest thing that we weren't very good the first year was third down. We were very good in red zone, but not third down. We got off the field a lot. Top five in the country and had a lot of negative plays, we were No. 1 in the country. We weren't giving up the big plays like we did the year before. The year before we were averaging, the first year, averaging maybe eight big plays of 15-20 yards a game. That was cut down to about three. That's the biggest difference. This year we've got to stay on top and create negative plays and third down. Those are important things. We've got to do a better job in the red zone. Our red zone wasn't where we wanted it to be at. We've got to stop giving up touchdowns and start kicking field goals. I think we can improve on those things a lot. But we've got to keep up with the third-down emphasis and also create negative plays."
With the NCAA allowing an extra year of eligibility for players who play this fall, how does that help you guys? Will some guys benefit, maybe some seniors, from coming back another year?
"The hardest thing about that is you never know what's going to happen in the future. It's hard for me to even think about, to be honest with you. The season is maybe three weeks away, two weeks, and you're trying to get ready for that. Thinking ahead about what's happening, that's hard. Even the players on the team, those guys right now, talking about the seniors, they can't think that far. They're more thinking about what's happening now and let's get better today."
From a leadership standpoint, who have you seen emerge?
"The seniors on defense have done a good job of being that guy. Even a guy like Brandon Moore. He's not practicing, but on that sideline he is in those cornerbacks heads every second of the day. That's becoming a leader. A guy who can contribute on the sideline when the coaches are coaching. Making sure the young guys are staying in tune and communicating. We've got a lot of guys who are doing that. We don't have any type of rah-rah guys, but a lot of guys that are communicating with the young guys and also making sure guys play at a high level. You look at it the same way on the offense. Seniors who have been here a lot. They've done a great job on offense also."
Coach Heupel mentioned there is a scrimmage tomorrow. What do you want to see from your defense?
"Just want to see those guys chase the football hard, more than anything. Communication. They're going to make mistakes. They're going to miss tackles. More about playing hard the entire way and communication. That's the two biggest things we're looking for. If guys do those things, we'll be happy."
There's a lot going on in our country. In the past couple days we've seen the impact sports can have. What have you seen from your players and how they're developing their voice in regards to social justice issues?
"They do a good job of communicating. We do a great job as a staff about communicating about every scenario, every event that we may see in the public view. Every time we have a defensive unit meeting I'll put up something that has happened in the media, maybe sports related, but you talk about it. Those guys as a group, a football team, they do communicate and talk about the different things happening in the world today. They're not shy about it. They'll continue to do that. The best thing you can do is talk. A lot of times people don't want to talk about certain things. The best thing you can do is talk about it, voice their opinion. As a coaching staff, we support them. We have fun with that. That's important for those guys to know what you're there for them."
You had a couple young linebackers last year get some experience, Tatum Bethune and Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste, are you expecting an even bigger jump going into year two?
"They've made a tremendous jump as far as right now, this summer. Both of them are playing both out positions. Jeremiah is playing both mike and will. Tatum is playing both. Quade (Mosier) is the only guy that doesn't play both. We've got Eric Mitchell who can do all three. We've trained other guys to do those situations, just to build the depth. They've adapted to it. They're having fun. We've mixed them up. I've put Tatum with Eric Mitchell and Eriq Gilyard. I've put Jeremiah with those guys. Eric Mitchell with Quade. It's moving them around and making them comfortable with each other and they've done that."
